Ezekiel 19:10

10 Your mother [was] like the vine in your vineyard; planted {fruitfully} beside water, and it was full of branches from many waters.

Ezekiel 19:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:10

Thy mother [is] like a vine in thy blood
Another simile is here made use of, relating to the same persons; the same that were compared to a lioness are here compared to a vine, as the people of the Jews frequently are, ( Psalms 80:8 ) ( Isaiah 5:1 ) ( 27:3 ) ( Jeremiah 2:21 ) ( Ezekiel 15:2 ) ( 17:6 ) ; the same person is here addressed, the then reigning prince, Zedekiah, whose mother, the Jewish people, from whence he sprung, had been in times past, and still was, like a vine; and especially with respect to his blood, the royal family from, chore he descended: the allusion is to the use of blood laid to the roots of vines, by which they became more fruitful. It may have regard; as Calvin thinks, to the original of the Jewish nation, who, when in their blood, or as soon as they were born, that is, as soon as they became a nation, were at first like a flourishing vine. Some render the words, "in thy likeness"; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; to which the Targum agrees,

``the congregation of Israel, when it did according to the law, was like to a vine''

planted by the waters;
for in those hot countries vines required water, and thrived the better for bring near to them, or for being in watery places; this may denote the many privileges, blessings, laws, and ordinances, which were for the advantage of the Jewish people; both in their civil and ecclesiastical state: she was fruitful and full of branches, by reason of many waters;
grew populous, rich, and wealthy.

Ezekiel 19:10 In-Context

8 And nations set out against him {from the surrounding provinces}, and they spread their net over him, and he was caught in their pit.

9 And they put him in a collar with hooks, and they brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into a prison, so that his voice [would] not be heard {any longer} on the mountains of Israel.

10 Your mother [was] like the vine in your vineyard; planted {fruitfully} beside water, and it was full of branches from many waters.

11 And {she produced branches of strength} to scepters of rulers; its height became tall between thick foliage, and it was seen because of its tallness among the abundance of its branches.

12 But it was uprooted in rage; it was thrown to the earth, and the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off, and its strong branch dried up; fire consumed it.

Footnotes

• [a] Or "in the vineyard"
• [b] Literally "fruitful"
• [c] Or "from waters abundant/many"